of God Himself, and after his likeness, thou introducest so great an uproar, and disturbest those that are there,917 and puttest the soul to shame, and confoundest it? They come, about to be made one body. See again a mystery of love! If the two become not one, so long as they continue two, they make not many, but when they are come into oneness, they then make many. What do we learn from this? That great is the power of union. The wise counsel of God at the beginning divided the one into two; and being desirous of showing that even after division it remaineth still one, He suffered not that the one should be of itself enough for procreation. For he is not one who is not yet [united,918] but the half of one; and it is evident from this, that he begetteth no offspring, as was the case also beforetime.919 Seest thou the mystery of marriage? He made of one, one;920 and again, having made these two, one, He so maketh one, so that now also man is produced of one. For man and wife are not two men, but one Man. And this may be confirmed from many sources; for instance, from James,921 from Mary the Mother of Christ, from the words, “He made them male and female.” 319 (Gen. i. 27.) If he be the head, and she the body, how are they two? Therefore the one hold- eth the rank of a disciple, the other of a teacher, the one of a ruler, the other of a subject. Moreover, from the very fashioning of her body, one may see that they are one, for she was made from his side, and they are, as it were, two halves. For this cause He also calleth her a help, to show that they are one (Gen. ii. 18.); for this cause He honoreth their cohabitation beyond both father and mother, to show that they are one. (Gen. ii. 24.) And in like manner a father rejoiceth both when son and daughter marry, as though the body were hastening to join a member of its own; and though so great a charge and expenditure of money is incurred still he cannot bear with indifference to see her922 unmarried. For as though her own flesh itself were severed from her, each one separately is imperfect for the procreation of children, each one is imperfect as regards the constitution of this present life. Wherefore also the Prophet saith, “the residue of thy spirit.” (Mal. ii. 15, Sept.) And how become they one flesh? As if thou shouldest take away the purest part of 917 τοὺς ὄντας. Possibly “those that are [that image].” Downes proposes συνόντας, with some probability. 918 ὁοὐδέπω. The word ἡνωμένος, which Ed. Par. would supply, may be understood. 919 καθάπερ καὶ πρότερον. Downes and others give up this passage as corrupt. The Translator suggests, “as was the case with Adam before Eve was formed.” There is still a difficulty, though this has a meaning, in that God withheld the power then from the undivided Man, as he does now from the not yet reunited. 920 i.e. “one other.” Savile needlessly conjectures “two.” 921 The word is declined, and so would not mean Jacob. One ms. has Joseph, which is no plainer. [Three mss. have Joseph, but they are the group of three that are so often palpably altering.—J.A.B.] One would expect a solution from the end of Hom. v., but none seems to occur there, unless Jacob’s birth after Rebecca’s long barrenness be deemed sufficient. 922 Implied in αὐτῇ below. The word is of common gender. 564 Colossians 4:12,13